Saints' opener will be at Superdome

INDIANAPOLIS - The Saints announced Tuesday afternoon that they will play Sunday's regular-season opener at the Superdome at 12 p.m., as originally scheduled.

After evacuating to Indianapolis over the weekend and preparing for their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Saints are expected to return to the New Orleans area Friday afternoon.

"There were a number of critical issues that needed to be addressed before we could make this announcement," Saints owner Tom Benson said in a statement. "We have been assured by Superdome officials that the stadium is ready to host our fans and our team for a sold-out game this Sunday, and we have been assured by our political leaders that we have their support in making this happen."

The Superdome sustained no significant damage as Hurricane Gustav passed through Louisiana, according to Doug Thornton, regional vice president of SMG, the company that manages the Superdome.

Thornton said the Superdome never lost power during the storm and is currently a fully functioning building, with the air conditioning running as of Tuesday morning. Some of the facility's critical employees returned to work Tuesday.

"I think certainly all the fans are looking forward to the home opener, and I think it would be a great disappointment if we couldn't pull it off," Thornton said. "I think that's why we worked very hard to get this completed. And it will be symbolic. People in New Orleans need something to celebrate. They've had a rough week, a rough stretch."

Early Tuesday, there were still questions about the timing of re-entry for New Orleans residents and Superdome workers. But Thornton said the Superdome had a 1-800 number and Web site set up in advance for facility employees, and he was "confident we'll get most of our workers back."

Among the approximately 2,500 workers needed to staff the game are 125 to 130 police officers, and Thornton said he received word Monday night that the event would be able to have the appropriate police and traffic support.

"Our No. 1 priority was making sure that the people of our community were safe during the storm and are now able to return safely," Benson said. "There is a critical re-entry process that we all must follow, and we must do that as efficiently as possible. We will once again showcase to a national audience that the city of New Orleans is made up of resilient people and that we are ready to stand our city back up as quickly as possible, put this storm behind us and move on with our lives."

The Saints said in a news release that they had been working with local, state and Superdome officials on the availability of the facility, while Thornton said there was a detailed communications plan in place before the storm hit.

Food was removed from the Superdome before Gustav came ashore, and the possibility remains that the Saints could have a scaled-down menu Sunday. But Thornton said the Superdome definitely would have the basics, such as beer, soda, water and popcorn.

Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis thanked the Indianapolis Colts in a statement, adding that the Saints were "pleased that we will be back in New Orleans to play our game in our hometown in front of our fans on Sunday."

"We probably could have said this yesterday," Thornton said about Tuesday's announcement, "but we wanted to be sure."

-- Superdome management has asked that all SMG, Centerplate and other stadium operations personnel call the employee hotline at 1.800.756.7074 for more detailed information regarding game day assignments.